Hi,

I'm about to exchange on a 1 bed flat to be used as a buy to let. The purchase is off plan and the parking for the development is to be an automated car stacking system. I will be given a code to input, a car park space will appear and I drive into the space and leave the car. The machine will then park the car to my allocated space. Apparently they are commonly used in Europe, particularly in Germany. I have never heard of this type of parking before and am concerned it could be quite expensive to maintain.

I would welcome any comments/advice.

Thanks

I don't know how expensive they are to maintain, but I know that our office in Rotterdam has this exact same system.

I was talking to one of the guys about it and he was raving about it, but other than that I don't know. From what he says, it is pretty reliable.

Sorry I can't help more, but you wouldn't have to maintain it anyway would you, wouldn't it be covered in the service charge?

This system should be encouraged in the UK where land is at a premium. Developers in most areas often appear to be required to provide a garage with one parking space in front and are allowed to build narrow roads. Houses are small and the garages end up being used for storage and so the second/third car is left out on the road.
We need to think underground parking.
I used a similar stacking system in flats in Luxembourg - where they value land space.
Each flat had two parking "spaces." The first car was driven onto a ramp which was then electrically raised to allow the second car to park underneath. Worked well.
It sounds as if Denises flat has a multiple stacking system. Great! Keep cars off the road.
No thefts! No vandalism!
It might be an idea to enquire what happens in the event of a power cut.

Thanks so much for your comments. After speaking to letting agents in the area their comments are pretty much the same and are they are positive about this type of parking. I'd imagine that a lot of developments in the future will have this type of parking as space becomes more expensive. Have decided to proceed with the purchase. By the way there is a manual way of getting out the car in the event of a power cut. Thanks again ;-)

Sounds like a great idea but I think as with flats with lifts, there will be very high service charges to pay.

My o/h has got one and (as said) they are quite common here in Germany. The office space in the block I live in does as well.

The cost isn't that big a deal and, of course, many people consider that worth paying in places where outside spaces are rare.